Community Child Development Center

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Welcome to St. John’s Community Child Development Center (CCDC).

St. John’s CCDC is a nonprofit, state licensed, and NLSA Accredited school. Our main goal since 1997 has been to meet the needs of our children and their families all while sharing a caring Christ at our Lutheran School.

We serve children 6 weeks – 11 years. St. John’s CCDC has a lot to offer from daily Spanish and Sign Language lessons, weekly Stretch n Grow and dance classes, to monthly puppet shows and special events. Our programs start with an exceptional baby room and move on up to our fun school-age summer camp and aftercare program (Camp Wild~Life).

St. John’s is a Lutheran mission but serves a diverse student body from all over the Salt Lake Valley. Now with three locations: Liberty Park, Sugarhouse, and Murray.

National Lutheran School Accreditation (NLSA) is a rigorous national accrediting process designed to evaluate schools based on their unique purpose and quality as Lutheran education program/school. The NLSA evaluates not only the quality of the academics, environment, teachers, administration, and communication, but also most importantly the spiritual dimension of the school. The “Standards for Lutheran Schools” and report forms are similar to those used by other accrediting agencies, both secular and religious.

St. John’s Community Child Development Center is the only stand-alone preschool program in the Rocky Mountain Region that is accredited by the NLSA. We are very proud of this accomplishment.

“Planting Seeds of Faith and Knowledge”

“And [Jesus] took a little child, and set him in the midst of them. And when he had taken him in his arms, He said to them, ‘Whoever receives one of these little children in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me, receives not Me but Him who sent Me.’”

Mark 9:36-37

Our vision here at St. John’s CCDC is simple; the directors, teachers and staff want to do their part in “planting seeds of faith and knowledge”.

The first years of life are extremely important in a child’s development. Self-concept begins to grow in the earliest years as children begin to identify themselves as unique individuals in God’s world. Their everyday activities become fundamental for later development. At St. John’s CCDC, each child is encouraged to grow and be guided in developing a healthy sense of self-worth as a child of God.

St. John’s CCDC provides a stable and secure environment to nurture spiritual, intellectual and emotional development, as well as cultivate physical, social and creative skills in partnership with parents.

St. John’s CCDC emphasizes quality in stimulating, inventive, and developmentally appropriate activities and encourages social interaction to foster independence, positive attitudes and life skills. All by learning through play.

Reggio Emilia Approach

The Reggio Emilia Approach is an inspiring approach to early childhood education and was developed in Italy during WWII.

It is an innovative, progressive and emergent curriculum.

What is Emergent Curriculum?

An emergent curriculum is one that builds upon the interests of children.

Topics for study are captured from the talk of children, through community or family events, as well as the known interests of the children (puddles, shadow, dinosaurs, etc.).

Team planning is an essential component of the emergent curriculum. Teachers (lead and co) work together to formulate the possible directions of a project, the materials needed, and possible parent and/or community support and involvement.

Reggio Emilia approach values each child as strong, capable and resilient; rich with wonder and knowledge. Every child brings with them deep curiosity and potential and this innate curiosity drives their interest to understand their world and their place within it. Children learn best through interactions with their physical and social environment. This philosophy keeps the focus on the environment and teaches that children learn best through “hands on” experiences as well as through play while encouraging free choice and child-initiated exploration. The teachers continually adapt and expand the curriculum to respond to the individual needs and interests of the students.

The Reggio Emilia approach which is based upon the following set of principles:

Children must be able to learn through experiences of touching, moving, listening, seeing, and hearing

Children have a relationship with other children and with material items in the world that they must be allowed to explore

Children must have endless ways and opportunities to express themselves

Through this curriculum, St. John’s CCDC will provide a wide variety of learning experiences for children which will enrich their social, emotional, intellectual, spiritual, and physical development in a warm Christian atmosphere. Our programs focus on developing the “whole child”. Each child is unique and our programs are designed to meet the varied interests and developmental needs.

Classroom centers are arranged with guidelines of the Developmentally Appropriate Practices (DAP) to provide children with an excellent means to create, explore, discover and learn about the world around them in their own special way.